thanks in large part to the influence of martha's kitchen's executive director. after a career at high tech firms like ibm, apple and hp, shy got some bad news back in the early part of the last decade. >> what i thought was a devastating event of my life, when i got laid off, it was actually a blessing. >> reporter: a blessing, because she says while she always thought about non-profit work, she doesn't think she would have jumped at this job unless she didn't have one. she has smoothly introduced the efficiency of the corporate world to the compassion of the non-profit. when she started at martha's kitchen a dozen years ago, they were turning out roughly 20,000 meals a year, not bad. they now do more than ten times that -- 250,000 meals a year. that's a million meals every four years. all with a staff of just six! but an army of volunteers. >> it's a very selfish feeling, because i feel good, but i also have to tell you that without the support of the community our doors would close. >> reporter: she says she and her crew are already looking to ways to boost th